NEW YORK:- Kirati Rais celebrated Sakela festival with grandeur in New York City, USA. Non-Kiratis also joined the Kirati Rai community participants who gathered in a local park and participated in the Sakela dance.
A collective Sakela has been organized in New York every year on the occasion of Udhauli, organized by the Kirati Rai Society of America.
“This is not just a festival, but also an opportunity to express our collective consciousness and emotions,” said poet and president of the Kirat Rai Society of America New York Chapter, Shambhu Rai. “In America, where we have a busy and individualistic lifestyle, through Sakela, we get to present the collective consciousness we have learned from our villages and ancestors. That is why Sakela is celebrated here with joy.”
Sakela itself is a product of collective culture. The Kirati Rai community has a tradition of celebrating Sakela twice a year. This nature-worshipping community celebrates Ubhauli during the sowing season and Udhauli Sakela during the harvesting season. In Ubhauli, the ancestors are asked for strength with the wish for a good crop and happiness and prosperity in the society, while in Udhauli, they express gratitude to nature and ancestors and wish to celebrate a similar festival next year.
At a formal program organized before the inauguration of Sakela, Kirat Rai Society of America Central President Bharati Rai also clarified the same issue. “Our ancestors have given us the knowledge to live scientifically. Accordingly, Sakela is celebrated with the desire for world welfare, seeking strength from our ancestors,” she said. “Ubhauli is celebrated during the sowing of crops and Udhauli is celebrated during the harvesting. That is why Kirat Rais are nature lovers. I extend my best wishes to everyone.”
Nepali Consul General to New York Dadhiram Bhandari, Nepali Journalists Association (NEJA) President Kalpana Ghimire, NRNA New York Chapter President Basu Lamichhane, Nepal Indigenous National Federation of America President AP Lama Sherpa, Nepalese Law Enforcement President Sonam Ghising, film director Kishore Subba, and others expressed the view that it is a matter of pride for Nepalis to preserve their culture wherever they live.